The Impact of Work Pressures on the Health and Well-being of Healthcare Workers

Abstract

If you walk through a health service in any developed country, and probably those in any developing country also, you are likely to hear the staff and the public expressing their concerns about the stresses and strains of the service. The health service, it seems, has become a hotbed of complaints about difficult and demanding conditions. The management of the health service is also distressed. The health service is an immensely expensive operation and the costs are increasing. Furthermore, the budget is a straightjacket that is ever tightening. Not only do more and more people need the services but, as our ability to provide new treatments increases, the range of services expands and with it the demand for more resources. The government has concerns about the health service as part of its general concern about the need to limit public expenditure. In the last few budgets, the social security bill—much of it goes into the health service—or related costs have been major items for public spending reductions.